New Revelations
by Lizzy-Kun
Summary: CH. 11 UP! CONTAINS SPOILERS! 10 19 05: Did some minor edits. Takes place after ch. 236 of the manga. Sakura is sad and learning how to deal, and Gaara is trying to sort out his life. Mild GaaraxSakura pairing.
1. New Revelations Chapter 1

**New Revelations Chapter 1**

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**_This takes place after Naruto and company return from trying to bring Sasuke back to Konoha in chapter 236. The first flashback Sakura has is composed of dialogue word for word from ch. 181 between her and Sasuke. All of which is from the brilliant mind of Kishimoto-sensei, because I can't describe it as well as he can._

_EDIT: 10/19/05 Fixed some grammatical errors._

Haruno Sakura sighed as she walked through the village of Konoha. They weren't able to bring Sasuke back. Poor Naruto looked really disappointed in himself. _"He promised me after all,"_ She thought. _"No wonder he looked so sad when I found out."_ She hugged her sides as she continued to walk, not really having any particular destination in mind. Tsunade had honored her request to make Sakura her apprentice. She hoped that with her help and knowledge of medicine she could learn ways to be of more help to her friends, mostly Sasuke. Her mind flashed back to their confrontation the day he skipped town.

"_Why are you prowling around here in the middle of the night?" he had asked her. _

"_I knew you'd come this way if you were to leave, so I just waited here." She had answered him, her heart breaking as she spoke ever so softly. So he was deciding to leave after all._

_His face was so serious. "Get out of here and get back to sleep." He walked past her towards Konoha's gates. _

_Tears quietly ran down Sakura's face. "Why won't you say anything to me?" She let out. She was already losing her reserve. "Why do you always keep so quiet? You never say a single word to me." _

_He stopped. "I told you I don't need your help don't try to look after me."_

_Sakura didn't give up. "No matter what, you just always hate me don't you…you remember?" He said nothing. She continued. "When we became Genins the day our team was assigned you were so mad at me…" She paused remembering how he had told her she was so annoying._

"_I don't remember that." He told her. Stopping her mid-reverie._

_She smiled despite the painful blow he had just dealt and tried to play it cool. "Ha ha, yeah I guess you're right. It's all in the past huh?" "That's where it all began though, you, me, Kakashi-sensei, and Naruto. We did all kinds of missions together, and even though some were painful and difficult I still enjoyed it." She paused. He still stood there silent. _

"_I know all about your past Sasuke-kun. Even if you get revenge though it won't bring anyone happiness…not even you Sasuke…nor me."_

_"I already know that." He admitted. "I'm different from you all, we've always done everything in a group and now there's something I must do." He paused for a moment. "Deep inside my heart I've already decided upon revenge, and for that reason only do I live." _

_Tears welled up in Sakura's eyes. This couldn't be Sasuke-kun. Why couldn't he understand that he didn't need to do this? What had happened?_

"_I'll never be like you or Naruto." He said._

_Sakura began to let her heart pour out. "Do you really want to go back to being alone? You told me how painful it was to be alone! Right now I know your pain. I know I have friends and family…but," She sniffed. "But if you were to leave…"her voice broke, she was crying now. "To me…I would be just as alone as you."_

_Sasuke stood like a stone. "From here on out we all begin new paths." He said and began walking to the gates again._

_Sakura felt her heart breaking, but decided to make one last attempt to pull him back to her. "I LOVE YOU WITH ALL MY HEART!" She yelled after him. He stopped. She let everything off her chest, "IF YOU STAY HERE WITH ME THERE WOULD BE NO REGRETS…WE'D DO SOMETHING FUN EVERYDAY, WE'D BE HAPPY, I SWEAR!" He continued to stand still. "I WOULD DO ANYTHING FOR YOU, I'D EVEN HELP WITH YOUR REVENGE, I DON'T KNOW WHAT I COULD DO, BUT I'LL TRY MY BEST TO DO SOMETHING!" She continued in a quieter voice. "So please stay with me…or take me with you if you can't stay here." What had she done? She had told him everything about how she felt without giving it a second thought._

_He turned and faced her. "You really are annoying." He said with that signature Sasuke half grin she always admired._

_She lost it then. "DON'T LEAVE! IF YOU DO I'LL SCREAM!" She hollered after him forgetting that she already was kind of screaming._

_He appeared behind her. "Sakura." She held her breath. He was right behind her. Was this it? Would he come back? Had she changed his mind? "Thank you." He said. And like that he was gone. Sakura collapsed on a nearby bench too weak and broken to do much else._

She snapped out of her flashback. _"Sasuke-kun."_ She thought. She shook her head. _"No more crying!"_ She thought holding back tears again. She spotted a rock near some trees and plopped down. Everything in Konoha looked perfect today, the sky was clear and the weather was warm and breezy. It was almost as if the little village had no idea that Sasuke had even left.

In the midst of all the chaos, Gaara found himself sitting in a hospital room with Rock Lee. He couldn't help but think of the irony of the situation. Not so long ago he had stood in this very room with intentions to kill Lee, but that was before. Gai-sensei was fawning over his precious student while Gaara sat there staring at them. He still thought Gai was a weirdo, but at least now he realized he wasn't the only one who did. Gai was lecturing Lee when Shikamaru came in.

"Yo!" He greeted Gaara. "So you came to join our cause too?"

"Yes." Gaara answered simply. He still wasn't completely used to having casual conversations with people yet.

"Kind of funny almost seeing you both here like this." Shikamaru gestured in Lee's direction.

Lee broke free of Gai's super hug, "He saved me Shikamaru-san!" "I would have been killed for sure if he hadn't appeared!"

Gai appeared in front of Gaara with tears streaming down his face, "Thank you for saving my Lee!"

"It's no problem." He answered calmly. He wasn't used to accepting praise like this from anyone yet either, especially from someone as out there as Gai.

"How did your team hold up Shikamaru?" Lee asked clearly concerned.

"We're okay, we suffered some injuries, but everyone's expected to pull through. However, we failed to obtain Sasuke." Shikamaru finished his sentence slowly as if he didn't want to believe it. "Naruto found him, but he wasn't able to bring him back. He's really upset about it."

"Uzumaki is here?" Gaara asked.

"Yeah right across the hall actually." Shikamaru said scratching the back of his head.

"I must speak with him." And with that he got up and sought out Naruto.

When he entered the room he couldn't believe the person he saw before him was the same Uzumaki Naruto he had seen before. He was staring straight up at the ceiling and his head was dressed in bandages. He looked sad lying there like he was deep in thought, probably about his encounter with Sasuke. He sat up in surprise when Gaara entered the room.

"Uzumaki Naruto I presume." He greeted him.

"You're that sand guy! Gaara of the Desert!"

He nodded.

"What are you doing around here?"

"The Hokage assigned my group to help yours against Orochimaru." He felt comfortable talking to Naruto, awkward still, but more normal. He and Naruto were practically the same. They both had monsters living inside them. They both knew the pain of loneliness, and the need to be recognized. Naruto had been luckier than him though, he at least had lots of friends. Gaara had his team, but they weren't exactly a close-knit bunch.

"So I guess you've heard then." Naruto said with his head down. "About Sasuke."

"Yes. Shikamaru told me, he said that you fought him and nearly died." This last statement stirred something in Naruto, he looked angry, not at Gaara, but with himself.

"Baka Sasuke, you're such a coward!" He muttered. "I promised Sakura-chan…I promised her that I'd definitely bring Sasuke back and I failed her. She looked so frightened and disappointed when she heard that the mission wasn't a success…I didn't want her to be sad so I told her I'd get him back even if it means my life." He smiled suddenly. "I wasn't just saying it either…I MEANT IT."

Gaara found this trait of Naruto's interesting. He was willing to do anything for his friends. They were so precious to him. He wondered what it was like to have precious people. He recalled the aftermath of his and Naruto's battle.

"_The pain of being alone is not an easy one to bear…your feelings…why is it that I can understand your pain? But I have people that are important to me now…I won't let you hurt those people important to me now. Even if you try to kill them I will stop you!"_

His reserve had been incredible. Naruto was stronger than he was because of his love for others. His need to keep them alive gave him all the power to protect them and defeat all who opposed him. _"Someday, even I will love."_ Gaara had promised himself that day. He didn't have a single friend.

"Uzumaki…you were as alone as I was, what changed that?"

Naruto looked at Gaara thoughtfully. Gaara had changed a lot since the last time they had met. Their battle really made an impression on him. He was still serious as hell, and he doubted that he had ever smiled outside of bloodlust, but he was no longer the cold and menacing demon he had met during the Chuunin exams.

"When I was a kid no one liked me. Everyone hated and despised me. I probably would have lived just as you had, but my sensei Master Iruka acknowledged me." He smiled at the memory. "When I first found out I was the demon fox, Master Iruka stood up for me. He called me one of his best students even though all I did was fuck around, he said I was a hard worker and I knew what it was like to feel pain. He said, 'he isn't the demon fox anymore, but a citizen of Konohagakure Village.'" "He was the first person who ever treated me like I was human, and not a monster." "I still drove him crazy though, but even after all I had done he would still treat me to a bowl of ramen." He looked up at Gaara who was hanging on to his every word.

He shifted before speaking. "It was different for me. No one acknowledged my existence. The one person whom I thought I could trust betrayed me and lied to me. I had no one after that." He stared at the floor. "Sometimes I wonder if I will ever know the happiness of having friends."

Naruto smiled. "What are you talking about Sand-man?" "You've just made one!" He grinned from ear to ear.

Gaara stared at him incredulously. "Uzumaki you never fail to amaze me." He said and made his way to the door. Naruto grinned, Gaara was an okay guy.

"See you around then Sand-man!"

Gaara didn't know what to make of Uzumaki Naruto, but the determined kitsune had made him feel better about himself, and as he made his way down the hall of the hospital he actually smiled.

(awwww ain't that sweet? ) End of Chapter 1.


	2. New Revelations Chapter 2

**New Revelations Chapter 2**

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**_EDIT: 10/19/05, Fixed some grammatical errors and made some revisions, nothing major to offset the balance of the story._

After his discussion with Naruto, Gaara found himself wandering through Konoha's streets, but his feet weren't the only ones wandering, his mind was drifting as well. Naruto gave him his friendship even after all the things he had done. His truly was an interesting character. Gaara envied him because of it. He continued walking aimlessly until he came across a familiar person. Her pink hair and red tunic…he had seen her before. It was her eyes that jarred his memory, back in the forest when he closed in on Sasuke; she had jumped in front of him her eyes glaring with determination. He had almost killed her as well, locking her in his sand he had threatened to kill her unless Naruto fought him. He almost hoped she wouldn't recognize him.

Sakura, however, instantly took notice of him. Her eyes widened in fear and surprise. "YOU!" She yelled, stopping in her tracks and pointing her finger at him. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING BACK HERE?" Her voice trembled slightly, understandably still deathly afraid of him after the incident in the forest. His black-rimmed eyes and lack of eyebrows made him look all the more menacing. Had he come back to kill Naruto, or her, perhaps even in search of Sasuke for a final death match?

Gaara's eyes widened somewhat at the look of fear on Sakura's face. Even after all these years he still hadn't gotten completely used to the look of fear people would sometimes shoot his way. He couldn't blame her though, he had tried to kill her, he deserved it. "You're Uzumaki Naruto's teammate right?" He said trying not to look at the panic that was spread across her face.

"Yes, but why…. what do you want with him?" Her voice was shaking perceptibly now. He wanted something with Naruto after all…maybe he really did want to kill him. She cringed as he came closer to her.

"I'm not going to hurt you." He said as he approached her.

"I know that!" Sakura lied. She didn't believe him. He killed anyone who got in his way.

Gaara knew she was bluffing. "You're a terrible liar. I can see the fear in your face."

Her heart pounded, _"Am I so easy to read?"_ She wondered. "What do you want with him?" Sakura repeated. "If you try to hurt him I'll…I'll kill you!" Sakura knew even as she said this that there was no possible way she could defeat Gaara. Lee couldn't even do it.

"I have no intention of killing Uzumaki." He looked Sakura in the eye. "I can see that you are similar to him. Both of you, if someone important to you is threatened, you defend them." This girl wasn't very strong, but her determination was great. Even so if he were to fight her, he could still squash her like a bug if he wanted.

Sakura was totally confused. She was certain Gaara would have destroyed her by now if he really intended to kill her. He didn't need an introduction. She stared at him. His face was serious yet his dark ringed eyes looked as though he was hurt deep inside. This made Sakura even more confused as she was certain Gaara was the last person she would expect to show any emotion other than hate.

He stared down at the ground. "I'm going to meet up with my teammates." He began to walk past Sakura, who was still trying to figure out what was going on.

"WAIT!" She said stopping him in his tracks. "You never said why you were here." As soon as she said it her mind flashed back to the street where she, Naruto, and Sasuke first encountered Gaara and his team. She had asked a similar question to them then.

Gaara looked over his shoulder, "We're here to help Konoha defeat Orochimaru." This girl was persistent for someone who was so weak and afraid of him. Naruto kept some interesting company. He continued on his way to meet up with Temari and Kankurou.

Sakura watched him leave, he was still creepy as hell to her, but she couldn't forget the look of his eyes just now, they looked so full of pain, sadness even. She was curious and decided to see Tsunade about the Sand trio's return to Konoha.

Tsunade was in her office…playing solitare with her bottle of sake set right across from her when Shizune led Sakura in.

She looked up from her cards, "Sakura-chan? What can I do for you?" She leaned back a bit in her chair and shook her hair out of her face.

"Tsunade-sama…I was wondering if you had asked ninja from the hidden village of the Sand to aid us in our fight with Orochimaru."

Tsuande looked amused. "Yes Sakura I did."

Sakura looked a bit taken aback by the simplicity of her answer, "Why? The Sand betrayed us didn't they?"

"They were under the influence of Orochimaru. He stole the identity of the Kazekage and twisted things around. That's all been sorted out now." She took a sip of her sake. "Originally we would have chosen a team of Jounin to try and intercept Sasuke, but due to our weakened state I selected a strong team of Genin to do the job." She set down her cup. "Orochimaru, I already realize, has some very strong ninja on his side, they're good an regenerating their strength, that's where the Sand team came in. They owed us for their mistake and we needed an extra group of exceptional ninja." She smiled. "You understand now?"

Sakura was still trying to register all this information, but at the risk of sounding idiotic she nodded. "Yes I do thank you."

Tsunade went back to her cards, "I'll see you at eight tomorrow morning then my apprentice." Sakura nodded again, and Shizune escorted her out of the office.

When she thought about it, Gaara's team was pretty strong, stronger than most actually, the only thing Sakura wasn't sure of was Gaara himself. He was a killer right? Granted that made him all the more suitable for the job, but still…She looked up. It was getting dark out, stars began dotting the sky and the full moon was in clear view. She needed a place to relax and think. She made her way to a small wooded park.

She took a deep breath of the fresh air and stretched a bit. Looking up she spotted her favorite climbing tree. She had come here many times before just to take in the serene atmosphere that surrounded the area. Using her chakra as Kakashi-sensei had taught her, Naruto, and Sasuke back in the wave country, she scaled the trunk of the tree until she reached a sturdy branch to sit on. The moon was in perfect view here and it basked the park around her in its milky white glow.

"Where were you all this time little brother?" Temari asked Gaara as he entered the room he and his team were given when they arrived in Konoha. She noticed he looked deep in thought.

He regarded her coolly. "I had some things to take care of."

Temari and Kankurou exchanged worried glances. They knew Gaara had been different since his battle with Uzumaki Naruto, but this statement made them wonder if he had gone back to his old pattern of things. They were still unsure of him, so they didn't press him for details.

Temari smiled awkwardly, "Well you're just in time for dinner, so that's good." She began setting the table with plates of rice and stir-fried chicken and vegetables.

Gaara said nothing, and they ate their meal in silence. He stood up when he finished and began to walk to the door. He stopped halfway there and turned to them.

"Thanks Temari. I'm going out for some fresh air for a while, I'll be back." He left and slid the door shut behind him leaving his teammates wondering what was going on in his head.

"He's definitely been different since that day." Kankurou said still staring at the door.

"Yeah, he's still quiet, but other than that he's been almost kind." Temari agreed as she cleared the table. "Perhaps we should have asked him what "things" he had to take care of."

Back at the park, Sakura once again found herself thinking about Sasuke. What exactly was he doing right now? Was he with Orochimaru? It seemed like too much to take in. _"Sakura…thank you."_ He had said.

"_That's right!"_ She thought. _"I confessed to him! He knows how I feel about him now!"_ All these years she had harbored her love for him, waiting for the right moment to tell him. However, the outcome in her fantasies had been different than the actual event. He was supposed to say, "Sakura, now that I know you feel the same way…I could never leave you." She blushed at this cheesy dream of hers.

"_BAKA! That would never happen in a million years!"_ Inner Sakura raged. Sakura sighed. She knew Sasuke would never say that to her now. She looked up at the moon and wondered if perhaps Sasuke was safe and looking at this same moon right now wherever he was.

"You like staring at the full moon too, eh?" A familiar voice said to the right of her. She turned to see Gaara standing on another tree branch about five feet away from her.

"AIEEEE!" She jumped in fright, sliding off the tree branch and free falling towards the ground some ten stories below her.

"_Great, I'm going to die because of him!"_ Sakura's mind hissed as she crossed her arms in front of her chest, and squeezed her eyes shut preparing herself for impact. She felt something snake around her and soften the blow, her body still jerked from the force of impact against the ground, but not as badly as she expected. She opened her eyes slowly and then realized she was lying on a huge pile of sand. _"He saved me?"_ She looked up into the tree at Gaara who was still standing on that same branch with his arms crossed staring down at her.

He disappeared in a cloud of sand and reappeared a few feet away from her. "You're okay right?" He asked her, with his arms still crossed.

Sakura's body felt like jelly. "Yeah, I think I'm okay." She stood up slowly her limbs shaking from her near death experience. She stared at Gaara. _"Why would he save me?"_ She had no idea what his intentions were and she eyed him suspiciously.

Gaara closed his eyes. "You're still afraid of me aren't you?" He opened his eyes and looked directly into Sakura's hoping to tell what she was feeling.

Sakura's eyes widened. She couldn't lie to him, not now. "Yeah…I guess I am still a little." She said cautiously expecting him to snap. He remained silent. "What are you doing out here?" She asked stupidly.

"You seem very interested in where I go and why." He said.

Sakura looked embarrassed. "Well I guess I'm just nervous because you…well you tried to kill me once before."

"If I hadn't fought Uzumaki Naruto that day I probably would have killed you." He admitted. "And Uchiha Sasuke." He added. "Your friend Uzumaki is a very interesting character. I spoke with him today." Sakura stared at him. "After our fight I needed to know some things. In my entire life, no one ever once truly acknowledged my existence because of what I was." He looked sad to Sakura like he was remembering something painful. "Uzumaki told me that he was alone too, only he found people to accept him and he was willing to do anything to keep them safe. I wondered at the time if I would ever have people like this in my life. I said this to Uzumaki and he said I wouldn't have to worry because he would be my friend." His eyes softened and his features became more relaxed and human.

"_That Naruto."_ Sakura thought. Naruto just had a knack for befriending the most unlikely people…with the exception of Sasuke. She felt warm after hearing Gaara's little speech. He wasn't so scary after all. He must have been so alone at times. Sakura remembered how alone and insecure she felt when she was younger.

"I can understand what that must have been like." Sakura said. Gaara looked surprised. "I can't say that my experience was as bad as yours, but it still made me feel alone." Her eyes teared slightly. "When I was growing up the girls used to tease me about my big forehead." She laughed a little. "It hurt me so much even though it was something so trivial. I would sit by myself and cry a lot because no one would talk to me. Then I met Ino and she told me to stop crying." She smiled. "She said my big forehead was cute and I shouldn't hide it under my hair, so she tied it back with a ribbon and said, 'There! Now you look much better.' Sakura smiled at Gaara. "I guess you could say that Ino was my special person who acknowledged my existence."

Gaara stared at Sakura in wonder. This girl identified with him. The severity of the two experiences was different, but the same meaning was there.

Sakura sighed, "It's late I should be getting home, I have to see Tsunade-sama at eight tomorrow morning." She was about to turn around, but stopped herself. She looked back at Gaara over her shoulder, "Thank you." She said with a smile and a little wave.

Gaara remained silent. This had shaped out to be a very interesting day indeed.

End of Chapter 2


	3. New Revelations Chapter 3

**New Revelations Chapter 3**

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**_EDIT: 10/19/05, Fixed some grammatical errors, and made some minor revisions._

Sakura couldn't sleep that night, she kept tossing and turning, but she couldn't get the days events from playing over and over in her head. Gaara's little epiphany was the most persistent. The fact that he had saved her, and made friends with Naruto was so drastically out of character.

"_What am I doing? I never really knew him from the start."_ She thought as she stared up at her ceiling. How would she know what was in and out of character for him? _"Duh Sakura! HE'S KILLED PEOPLE THAT'S HOW!"_ Inner Sakura argued.

She shifted her head on her pillow. It could have been an elaborate put on, but why would he even bother? She analyzed the entire scene over in her mind looking for answers, his body language, actions, and even facial expressions, or lack there of. Then she recalled those eyes…those deep, sad eyes full of hurt and pain; almost as if they yearned to tell a story all their own.

"Baka." She said out loud to herself. It was obvious Gaara had probably lived a very lonely existence, far more lonely than hers ever was. He had never known love of any kind. If anything what he needed most were friends, people who would listen to him, maybe even understand him. She glanced over at her alarm clock. She needed to get some sleep before her first day as Tsunade's apprentice. She rolled over on her side and tried clearing her mind. Two hours and several self-reprimands later, she finally fell asleep.

Back at the inn, the sound of a door sliding open pulled Gaara out of his thoughts. Temari peeked her head in nervously, obviously checking on him. When his eyes met hers she was visibly uncomfortable, but tried to play it off.

"Just checking to see if you were back yet." She smiled a nervous smile.

Gaara was tired of her phoniness. He was always handled with care, but did they really care? Or were they just worried about being punished if something were to happen to him? Perhaps they were even more afraid of _him_. The only time they had ever seemed to like him was in battle. He was the ultimate weapon, a sure thing. He had realized this long ago and had learned to live with it, but now things had changed.

"Temari." She paused in the doorway; a strange look came over her face. "Do you honestly care about me, or am I just an unwanted responsibility?" He had definitely hit a weak spot.

Temari looked uneasy, "What's this all of a sudden?" She said with that unnatural grin on her face. She didn't want to say the wrong thing and have him snap on her.

She had said all that he needed to know. "Never mind, it's nothing." He rested his chin on his knees and looked away from her. This was going to be a long night.

"Ah…O-okay…goodnight." Temari slid his door shut. She sighed in relief. She wasn't sure how she should react to him anymore. It was true Gaara was used as the hidden village of the Sand's trump card, and they were responsible to keep him under control if the demon Shukaku got restless. _"Do you honestly care about me, or am I just an unwanted responsibility?"_ These words from Gaara? What answer was he hoping for? He had been so cold and distant to them all these years they had been together that she and Kankurou feared him. He hadn't allowed them to become close. She did care though; he was her little brother and if something was to go wrong she wanted to be able to help him. They were a family. She looked back at his door before continuing down to hers.

Kankurou was waiting for her. "Was he there?"

"Yeah he's back." She said. "I'm beat I'm going to turn in." She didn't bother telling him what Gaara had asked her.

BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP

"URESAI!" Sakura threw a kunai at her alarm clock sleepily. The beeping promptly stopped. She lay there for a few seconds before sitting straight up. Today was her first day as Tsunade's apprentice! She instantly made her bed, took a quick shower, ate breakfast, and zoomed out the door hoping to be early and look dependable.

Tsunade was waiting for her when she arrived and presented Sakura with her first lesson. She placed a ripped piece of cloth before her. "This first lesson Sakura-chan, is to teach you how to efficiently focus your chakra and use it to mend the fabric. This usually takes a few tries before you actually succeed so don't worry if it doesn't come to you right away."

Sakura nodded and began to concentrate on moving the chakra into her hand. A few minutes later she could feel it pulsing through her fingers. She held her hand over the piece of cloth and released her chakra into it. A few threads twitched slightly and fused together, but this effect ceased in seconds.

"Not bad for your first try Sakura-chan." Tsunade smiled. "Keep at it and you should have this mastered in no time."

Sakura nodded and tried again. This time a section of the cloth had repaired itself. She looked to Tsunade with a huge grin.

Tsunade smiled at her protégé. _"She's as good as I was at her age. This girl has obvious talent!"_ Sakura was already showing signs of becoming a great future medical ninja. In time she might even be able to replace Tsunade.

Hours later, Tsunade told Sakura they would stop for the day and continue tomorrow. Sakura was overjoyed at her progress. She always felt like the weak one when she was with Naruto and Sasuke, but now she felt as though she had gotten stronger.

"_This calls for ice cream!"_ She thought still smiling as she made her way to the ice cream shop. Once there she ordered her favorite flavor, mint chocolate chip. She sat down on a bench enjoying her treat when she caught sight of Gaara, who was wandering down the road. He was so stiff when he walked; it was like he was zombified or something. He noticed her and she waved. To her surprise he paused and then came over to her.

"I thought you were training with Hokage-sama today." He said stiffly.

"_He really needs to loosen up."_ Sakura thought. She expected his joints to creak if he moved. "We're finished for today." She said with a smile.

"What's that?" He stared at her ice cream.

Sakura looked at him dumbfounded. "It's ice cream, haven't you had ice cream before?"

"No I have not."

"Really?"

He stared at her. He didn't like repeating himself.

"Try some of mine." She held her cone out to him.

He hesitated for a moment before he slowly took the cone from her and took a lick cautiously as if he expected it to be poisoned.

Sakura watched him with mild amusement. He looked almost innocent and child-like when holding that ice cream cone.

He made a face. "It's cold."

Sakura smiled, "Do you like it?"

He handed her the cone. "Yeah it's not bad." Still stone serious.

"Want one? Think of it as my thanks for saving me yesterday." She offered.

His eyes widened slightly. Her smile wasn't fake like Temari's. Her's was real. No one wanted anything to do with him when he was a child, and yet she was practically tugging on his arm to take him with her. He was intrigued. "Okay."

A few moments later they were both sitting on the bench with ice cream cones. Gaara was staring at his, not quite sure what to make of it. He took a bite of it, swallowed, and made a face as a headache hit him full force.

"What is this?" He asked massaging his forehead.

"Gomenasi! I should have warned you! If you eat it too fast the cold will give you a headache, but don't worry it goes away in a few seconds." She said hoping he wouldn't kill her due to an ice cream headache.

As Sakura had said the pain ceased. He realized there were some things that the sand could not protect him from. He noticed Sakura staring at him, concerned. "Did it go away?" She asked.

He noticed her ice cream was dripping down her hand, a sure sign that she was more concerned about him than her ice cream. A strange feeling came over him, he couldn't recognize it, but it felt good. "Yeah." He finally answered. She was still looking at him. "Your hand." He gestured to the ice cream migrating down her wrist.

"Ehh? That was careless of me." She laughed as she corrected herself, obviously embarrassed. She was still nervous around him. He probably thought she was annoying.

She finished her ice cream and stood up. "I'm going to visit Lee-san, I'll see you around then I guess." She smiled at him and left feeling less than sure of herself. _"What's this feeling?"_ She wondered, but quickly shook it off.

Her words reminded him of Naruto's. _"See you around then Sand-man."_ She was strange and she made him feel even stranger. It was almost exciting. He glanced down at his ice cream and threw the rest out. If Temari or Kankurou had seen him with it they would probably have him committed. No, they would be too scared to. He began to walk to the park where he had met with Sakura the other day. He had the whole day to kill; he might as well spend it in solitude.

"Lee-san, are you feeling better?" Sakura called out as she entered the ninja's room carrying a lily flower like she had always done.

Lee looked up. "Sakura-san?" His eyes teared up. "YOU MUSTN'T SEE ME LIKE THIS IN SUCH A WEAKEND STATE!" He threw his arms over his face.

Sakura stared at him. "You're overdramatic. A friend of yours comes to visit you and you hide." He was really hopeless sometimes. She supposed he got these weird reactions from Gai, who always acted out in front of Kakashi-sensei.

Lee stopped and peered out from under one arm, "Sakura-san," He dropped both arms to his lap with tears streaming down his face, "YOU'RE RIGHT! A MAN SHOULD BE STRONG IN THE PRESENCE OF A WOMAN!" _"Isn't that right Gai-sensei?"_ He thought to himself.

Sakura sighed as she replaced the flowers in his vase with new ones. "I see you can move around all right, it's a good thing you didn't get hurt as badly as before, though I still don't think Tsunade-sama is going to be very happy with you." Tsunade had only just treated Lee the other day before he ran off to help the others with the mission.

Lee hung his head, "Tsunade-sama already lectured me, and I should be ashamed of taking her kindness and good treatment for granted. After all, because of her I can still defend my way of the ninja."

Sakura smiled at him, "I won't keep you then, get some rest so you can finally get out of here for a change!" She waved, "See you later!" And walked out the door.

She peeked into Naruto's room before she left. _"The baka!"_ She thought, _"He's asleep!"_ There was no use bothering him then. She had wanted to know the details of his battle with Sasuke, when it suddenly occurred to her that perhaps Naruto wouldn't want to talk about it. He had looked so depressed when she had seen him the day he was brought back to the village. It was better not to remind him. She left the hospital with the night once again beginning to set in on Konoha. She stopped for a bite of Takoyaki, and then decided to go to the park like she had the night before.

Just like last night she climbed her favorite tree, but this time the lulling of the branches and the sounds of the night, as well as her lack of energy due to her training earlier, put Sakura to sleep.

"Back again I see." Gaara's voice broke Sakura out of her nap ten minutes later.

"AIEEE!" She had once again fallen off the tree branch. o.O;

Gaara, who had been standing upside down under the very branch where she had been sleeping, caught her around the waist. "You're rather careless." He said to her.

Sakura realized she was clinging to him for dear life. "I'm sorry." She said stupidly, they were forehead to forehead. She stared into his eyes.

He stared back into hers, the strange feeling coming over him again. He noticed that they hadn't moved, and he didn't want to. Something about holding her like this was oddly satisfying. _"There is only one thing that can stop heartache…it's love."_ Yashamaru's words echoed through his head. _"Love."_ He pulled Sakura closer and pressed his lips to hers.

End of Chapter 3

_Left you in suspense there huh? Read and review!_


	4. New Revelations Chapter 4

**New Revelations Chapter 4**

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**_Sorry it took so long to update. Here it is, chapter 4 in all its glory. Actually I'm not that proud of this chapter and I really don't think it will live up to all of your expectations, I kept thinking of events that I could see happening in future chapters, but not now. Grrrr writer's block sux! Perhaps I'm wrong though? I hope I am since you've all been so kind to me for the last three chapters. Well read and review!_

Sakura's heart was pounding in her chest. Words couldn't describe what she felt at this moment. She tightened her grip around him. She was getting light-headed, not just from the kiss, but because they were still upside down and the blood was rushing to her head. Gaara sensed this and the kiss ended and he set her on top of the branch before climbing up himself.

Awkwardness set in. Gaara had kissed her. How was she supposed to react? What should she say? Do? Think? The kiss had been enjoyable, although unexpected. She glanced over at him, too shy to look at him directly. He was staring straight ahead into the night. Sakura saw him in a different light now. He was capable of love. Sasuke-kun. She was supposed to end up in his arms. That was what she had always dreamed about. _"Sasuke-kun is gone now Sakura. You confessed to him and he did nothing. He still left."_ She thought. Sasuke didn't care about her at all. If she were to die, he wouldn't lose sleep. Her love had always been one-sided with him. _"DAMMIT!"_ Inner Sakura screamed. It was time to move on. She gathered up every last bit of courage in her and leaned over and kissed him.

Time froze as she returned his sentiment. For the first time in his life, someone had gotten past his mental blockade. The kiss ended and he stared at Sakura with wide surprised eyes. He was desperately trying to get a grip of the emotions that were bombarding him; things he thought he would never feel were forcing their way in. He couldn't speak; he had no idea what to say.

Sakura noticed his unease. "Maybe I should go." She began to stand up when his hand suddenly gripped hers.

"Don't leave." He stared straight ahead, not even looking at her. He didn't know what to do at this point, but he didn't want to be alone now.

She gaped at him, his hand still gripping hers. She sat beside him, closer now. He released her hand. His eyes moved her way, but he didn't turn his head in her direction.

"Why?" He spoke softly. "Why did you…?" He didn't finish his sentence.

Sakura watched his reaction, she felt bad for him. How alone had he been all these years? Affection of any kind seemed to frighten him, but he still needed it like any other human being. She slid her arms around him in a comforting embrace. He flinched slightly from the shock of her touch. "Because you deserve love like anyone else." She answered him, her head resting on his shoulder. He was warm.

He looked down at her. He deserved love. No one had ever said anything like that to him, not even Yashamaru. Right now she wasn't frightened of him at all. She could have run away leaving him alone with his demons, or more specifically, demon, but she didn't. She sat there holding him. Had he ever been held? He searched his memories in vain; he knew that he had not. He was Gaara of the Desert, a monster feared by all, even by his siblings.

Sakura spoke again, breaking his silence. "You were waiting for me weren't you?" She asked. Gaara didn't seem like the type to show up in the same place twice without a reason.

He almost smiled. He had been waiting for her. She was interesting, even more so now. He reverted back to his calm demeanor. "Maybe, but I also suspect you were waiting for me as well."

She smiled, her head still on his shoulder. "Maybe." She had decreased the tension between them greatly.

He glanced at her. She really was odd, right now she was something else too, something he couldn't identify but it made him feel strangely at ease. This wasn't bad. He never thought he would be this close to anyone, or much less want to be this close to anyone. No. That wasn't true. He had always longed for someone to treat him this way, but fearful encounters, bitter words, and countless assassination attempts, forced him to turn the other cheek. His walls had always been up, blocking out everyone, and every emotion, except that which he needed to survive, and yet….here she was. It was as if the walls had never existed. He couldn't understand how it had happened; she just stirred something inside of him. A side of himself he hadn't shown since he was a child. An almost gentle innocence.

"You're toying with me." He finally said. "No one has toyed with me and lived."

Yesterday this statement would have seriously disturbed Sakura, but not now. She played right along. "I'm still here." She smiled.

"You're different." He stared up at the moon.

Sakura released him and leaned back a bit on the branch tilting her head up towards the night sky. "How am I different?"

"You don't run away from me. You wanted to at one point, I could tell, but even then you didn't." He glanced over at her. "My own siblings are terrified of me, and my father tried to have me killed." His face stiffened at the mention of his father, the Kazekage. He was glad Orochimaru had killed him, at least the freak was good for something. "You've seen what I'm capable of and yet you're here."

Sakura was listening attentively. His existence truly had been a lonely one, more so than she had imagined. Her expression was comforting. "You don't scare me anymore because I can understand you now, even though I've never seen what you have." She looked into his eyes. "You disproved my initial feelings about you, and I've disproved your initial feelings about me." He was gawking at her. "You expected me to run away, but instead I'm right here face to face with you."

She was right. He had expected her to run away, if not when he first ran into her then eventually, he figured, she would find him frightening and flee. Leaving him alone. Back to what he was used to. Complete and utter solitude. He expected her to show fear like she had before, but she was just staring at him, like he was a normal person she spoke with all of the time. He suddenly felt the need to wrap his arms around her.

His silence was unnerving. She yearned for him to say something, anything. Finally he slowly turned towards her and locked his arms around her stiffly. It was obvious he had never held anyone before in this manner. Sakura hesitated for a moment before wrapping her arms around him.

"Thank you." He said softly before kissing her gently and disappearing in a cloud of sand into the night.

Sakura sat stone still on the branch for at least two minutes before she decided she should take off for home too. Their conversation and his advances were on her mind all the way to her house. She couldn't help but wonder what this all meant.

Gaara materialized deeper into the wooded park away from Sakura. He needed to think. The events just moments earlier replayed in his head, searching for meaning, rationale, anything that could lead to an explanation of these foreign emotions. Her green eyes so warm and full of concern, her touch, and of course his reaction to her kiss. He had been the first to kiss her though hadn't he? She had made him feel something…happiness? Perhaps that was it. No, this was deeper than that. He liked her. Yashamaru had been right about one thing, love was in fact the only medicine that could heal a wounded heart.

He looked up into the sky, he needed to get back home, even though all he wanted was to stay out here for the night, but he knew Temari and Kankurou would worry about him. He sighed heavily and made his way towards the inn.


	5. New Revelations Chapter 5

**New Revelations Chapter 5**

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**_Whoo hoo! On the very eve of the New Year, a new chapter! This one took me forever, and it's far longer than the previous chapters I've written. ENJOY!_

_EDIT: 10/19/05, Fixed some grammatical errors, and made some minor revisions._

Night passed calmly into dawn as Sakura lay awake in her bed staring out the open window, but not really paying any attention to the view. A breeze blew in and rustled the thin, gauzy curtains, jumbling them much like her thoughts. There was no way sleep would come. Not after what had just happened. What was she going to do now? He had initiated it that she knew for sure. _"You played along though."_ Her mind argued with her. It was true. She didn't have to return his gesture; she could have left him with a hug and nothing more. _"You know you wanted to. You wanted to kiss him back."_ She flopped over on her side as if to shake the thoughts from her head. Gaara was still very confused about normal human emotions, about love. Surely he wouldn't know to pursue her further? The look on his face after she had kissed him back returned to her. He had looked so fragile for someone so tough, someone so poised to kill. There was no way that could work out. It was just too risky, and yet the possibility of seeing him again excited her.

"_You were waiting for me weren't you?" She had asked him._

"_Maybe, but I suspect you were waiting for me as well." He answered._

Sakura cursed herself for flirting so unapologetically with someone who obviously enjoyed her advances, or was it the attention? It was probably both. He had advanced on her first, and then that assumption of his! Why did he kiss her? She needed to know. His parting was much like Sasuke's had been. A simple thank you and then a disappearance.

"_Except Sasuke didn't kiss you." _Inner Sakura shamelessly added.

"Urrrgggg!" She groaned and stuffed her face into her pillow. At this rate she would have darker rings around her eyes than him. She glanced sleepily at her alarm clock. 4:37AM. She hoped this lack of rest wouldn't affect her training with Tsunade-sama in less than four hours.

Night. All around him the village of Konoha slept. An endless silence covered its boundaries until wind rustled through the trees. Gaara shut his eyes and breathed in the sweet night air. It was one of the few things he enjoyed. The roof of the inn was the perfect perch, high up and away from everyone. It wasn't a tree, but it would do. His mind had been racing since he had left the park and that girl, Sakura. He never liked anyone, but he liked her. She accepted him, and now he felt himself longing for her company. He wanted to see those soft green eyes that were quite similar in color to his, to hear her speak. He would find her tomorrow. These thoughts, these feelings were completely new to him. The madness they inflicted was both confusing and intriguing. He smiled in spite of himself.

"_Still a monster."_ He thought. Far off in the distance, the sky was beginning to lighten. Dawn was approaching.

"Sakura, what happened? I was expecting better results than yesterday from you." The Fifth Hokage's words only hinted at her annoyance. "You're distracted…and you look a mess too."

Sakura's face was red from her efforts. She turned her head reluctantly to meet Tsunade's gaze. Her eyes were somewhat bloodshot. "I'm sorry, Tsunade-sama. I couldn't get to sleep last night."

"Too excited huh?" The busty blonde smirked.

"_You have no idea."_ Inner Sakura commented.

"Well there's no use in continuing for the day, if you're already tuckered out." Tsuande said, fairly disappointed. She had been looking forward to seeing her apprentice's progress today. If she could duplicate what she had done the day before and take it to the next level than she would really know if Sakura was as exceptional as she suspected.

Sakura dragged her feet down the stone walkway from the training grounds. She was tired and she desperately needed something to relax her. She perked up slightly, a bathhouse! It had been ages since she had been in a hot spring. The closest one was about a block and a half away. Smiling now, she began to walk in their direction.

The women's bath was empty much to Sakura's delight. It was nice to have the whole place to herself. She gathered her towel and sank in, cringing slightly from the heat. She sighed in content as the bath soothed away all of her aches and pains.

"_If only all problems could be melted away like this."_ She thought to herself. Things were not that easy. People were tested, paths chosen then re-chosen, futures, altered, friends torn apart, hearts broken…Tears welled up in her eyes despite her willing them away. _"Sasuke-kun, why can't you understand?"_ She pressed her face into her towel and sobbed quietly. After a few minutes she became angry. She was always crying, always getting hurt, always being protected. _"Why do I have to be so weak?"_ She scolded herself. Even today at her training, how could she let a little sleep deprivation get in her way of becoming stronger? Gaara could go without sleep for, well, ever. Gaara…Her thoughts trailed off. She looked down at her now wrinkled hands. She had stayed in too long, she still wasn't sure what to do about Gaara, but there was one thing she knew she could do.

Tsunade was back to her game of solitaire when Sakura walked in. The fifth Hokage smirked, pleasantly surprised. "Back so soon Sakura-chan?"

"I took a nice hot bath, and if you're not too busy," She pretended not to notice the card game in front of Tsunade, "I wondered if you wouldn't mind letting me have another go."

The blonde smiled openly, "Ahh so you do have spirit. As expected from my student." She took one last swig of her sake and led the way to the training grounds.

The Hokage's quarters were at the very center of Konoha. Gaara knew she would come this way. He planted himself on a nearby tree branch and began waiting. He was so distracted that he didn't notice someone approaching him.

"Hey Sand-man!" Konoha's orange clad ninja greeted him, from his perch a branch below. "Watcha do-mmmphh!" A wave of sand was thrown at him.

Gaara snapped out of focus. His guards had been up, and Naruto had surprised him.

Naruto shook himself off and shot a glare up into the tree. "What was that for? I just fell ten feet to the ground! I did just get out of the hospital you bastard!" He yelled, pointing a finger at Gaara.

"Sorry, you surprised me." He said looking down at the still bandaged blonde below him, cool as a cucumber.

"Damn straight! I am the number one ninja in surprising people!" He said with a grin. He was so overly confident in himself. "Anyways, what are you doing up there?" He squinted up at Gaara.

"Biding my time." He answered.

Naruto raised an eyebrow, confused by his response, but then chose to ignore it. "I gotta see Old Lady Tsunade about what she plans to do about…" His voice quieted and his face fell, "about…THAT BASTARD SASUKE!" He yelled out unexpectedly at the end of his statement, startling several pigeons, fists clenched, eyes wild.

Now it was Gaara's turn to raise an eyebrow at him. Naruto was very dynamic in all of his reactions, and as he recalled from the Chuunin exams, prone to sudden outbursts. It was these outbursts, however, that drove away his fear of defeat, if he could force himself to believe he would overcome something, then he would.

"Don't let me stop you then."

Naruto cocked his head to the side, "What are you talking about? I wanted to come over here and talk to you."

Gaara tightened his grip on the branch. "Why?"

"Whaddaya mean why? Why not?" He looked up at Gaara, who had decided not to make eye contact with him. "Now quit being so anti-social and come with me to Old Lady Tsunade's!"

Gaara turned to him in surprise. "You want me to come with you?"

Naruto grinned. "That's what I said, now come on!"

Gaara smirked in response and materialized on the ground below his perch to join him.

"YOSH! Let's go!" Naruto announced with as much zest as he could muster.

"You're loud." Gaara commented with a slight smile and began following him up to the Hokage's quarters.

Tsunade smiled to herself as she surveyed Sakura's training. She was more like the Sakura she had watched yesterday than the one she had seen earlier. Her motivation returned to her, stronger than before. Since she had begun, Sakura had already managed to mend the piece of cloth she had set out before for her. Now her task was to reseal a small log that had been chopped in two. This task was proving to be far harder for her, but she was making some progress slow as it seemed. Unlike the cloth, the log was arranged in a far more complex manner. Each individual splinter had to be reconnected as if it had never been severed in the first place.

Sakura focused entirely on the log. Looking over it as a whole it seemed as though she hadn't done anything substantial at all. If one looked at the base however, centimeters had been reformed, seeming as though the split was not complete.

Shizune approached Tsunade. "Tsunade-sama, you have visitors waiting for you in your office."

Tsunade nodded and turned to Sakura. "Sakura-chan, you can stop now."

Sakura faced her. From the position of the sun she realized that she had been at it for more than a few hours now.

Tsunade smiled, "I know it doesn't look like much but you've made some real progress today." She motioned for Sakura to follow her inside.

Naruto groaned and slouched into the chair that was set in front of the Hokage's desk. "I hope she doesn't make us wait long, she's as bad as Kakashi-sensei when it comes to meeting me on time."

Gaara remained silent where he stood against the wall. He too wondered what the Fifth Hokage had in store for their second attempt at a retrieval mission. She couldn't be too sure of what was to be done otherwise she would have assembled a meeting with everyone who was to be involved. Naruto just wanted to be the first to know, since he and Sasuke had been on the same team. Though, from what he remembered, Naruto and Sasuke didn't exactly get along.

"Uzumaki, why do you fight so hard for someone who couldn't care less?" He finally asked.

Naruto looked angry for a moment, but then realized that Gaara didn't really know much about his experiences with Sasuke to know any better. "Sasuke is someone important to me. He's saved me on many an occasion, even though he was endangering himself." He paused for a moment before continuing. "He became unstable after a run in with his brother Uchiha Itachi."

Gaara looked up. "The missing ninja? He showed up here?" He had forgotten about the Uchiha's past, about the merciless slaughter of the clan's members. Sasuke was like him in that sense. So young and exposed to horrors beyond anything they could've imagined at the time.

Naruto nodded solemnly. "It took me a moment to register too. I was there. I remembered Sasuke saying he didn't want to die until he killed his brother. That's when I realized the man standing before me was the brother he had sworn to kill."

"You fought Uchiha, I'm sure he didn't want to go down easy." Gaara commented recalling how stubborn and overconfident Sasuke had been when they had fought. "He has Orochimaru's curse seal, but it doesn't seem to be very reliable."

"It's worse than that." Naruto cut in. "It's become more advanced, his form changes…" He trailed off, the recollection clearly a painful one. "Not only that, but he gained the third stage of his sharingan while we were in battle."

Gaara stared at him. Sasuke was now like Kimimaro, he had reached the second level of the curse seal. At the second level Gaara almost wasn't able to defeat him, and Sasuke was slick in his movements. If faced with him in this next reconnaissance mission, he would most likely prove to be a troublesome challenge.

The doors to the Hokage's office opened, and Tsunade strode in with Shizune and then Sakura.

The pink haired ninja looked surprised. "Naruto?"

"Hiya Sakura-chan!" Naruto turned to her with a smile, and as Gaara noted, as if he hadn't just been upset by anything at all. Naruto then turned to Tsunade. "Oy, Old Lady, what's the plan for getting Sasuke back this time?" He gave Sakura a reassuring grin. "Cuz I'm ready to go in and drag his ass back here kicking and screaming if necessary!"

Sakura wondered if Naruto was stupid or just plain naïve. She had to admire his determination though. He was trying so hard to make sure she wouldn't worry about them. She turned her head at a sudden noise. Gaara. She hadn't even noticed him standing there against the wall. "Hello, Gaara-san." She smiled a little. He nodded in response, eyes focused entirely on hers. _"CREEPY!"_ Her mind screamed. He was back to looking totally serious again.

_"Her training must have ended."_ He thought silently.

Tsunade glared at Naruto. "Learn some manners kid."

Naruto glared back, "I just wanna know what we're gonna do about Sasuke!"

Tsunade sighed heavily, "It's still being decided, based on the information I've gathered, we don't have anything too large to worry about for some time. It seems Orochimaru has already taken the body of another person, which means he can't take another for a span of three years. In other words, Sasuke is safe. However, taking this new body means that Orochimaru has now regained the use of his arms."

"He can form seals again then." Gaara spoke from his spot against the wall. He knew Orochimaru would have something up his sleeve; he wanted power just as much as Sasuke did, maybe even more.

Tsunade nodded. "That is true, but we don't think he'll plan an attack seeing as the Sound five were taken care of by yours and Naruto's groups. She leaned in towards Naruto, who looked up confused. "So, keep your pants on kid," She flicked him in between the eyes, "there's still a lot of things for me and the other villages to review."

Naruto groaned and rubbed the spot between his eyes where she had flicked him. "But that didn't answer anything!" He whined.

Sakura sighed, "It's a very complicated matter Naruto, it probably takes a lot of time to go over their options and modes of attack."

"Your friend is right Uzumaki." Gaara spoke up. "Someone like Orochimaru shouldn't be underestimated."

Sakura glanced over at Gaara. _"Your friend? What the hell does he consider me to be then?"_

Naruto sighed. Tsunade considered him, "Don't worry Naruto, as soon as something is figured out I'll let you know. Now go on and be with your friends. I'm sure they don't want to stick around my office all day." She smiled.

Naruto nodded and got to his feet, suddenly energetic again. "Okay everyone lets go! I know I could go for some ramen!" He laughed. Gaara shrugged and started to follow him. Sakura watched in disbelief, but decided she might as well come along too.

"Do you even like ramen?" Gaara whispered to Sakura.

She looked at him for a second before answering, "Not really." She glared at Naruto's back. "But that guy seems to worship the stuff."

Gaara smirked. "So I've noticed."

Naruto looked over his shoulder. "You guys are friends already?" He grinned. "Sakura-chan is always so good at making friends."

Sakura felt her face flush; Gaara's went serious again.

Naruto raised an eyebrow, "Was it something I said?"

End of Chapter 5

_There's not much as far as GaaraxSakura's relationship goes, but I still felt it was necessary to show some of the other things that are going on around Gaara and Sakura. She's got her training and Gaara's "friendship,"(for now!) Gaara's got his impending mission with Team Shikamaru, surviving Naruto's friendship, and his strange fascination with Sakura. I can't let this just be a fluff story, I want it to be far better than that, so stay tuned for future cool chapters with action, romance, and of course humor! READ AND REVIEW! _


	6. New Revelations Chapter 6

New Revelations Chapter 6

Sakura hoped Naruto didn't notice the blush that had washed across her face. It would be too embarrassing for both of them to try and explain themselves.

Luckily, he shrugged and dismissed their behavior before sharing his choice ramen ingredients. "I like a little bit of everything in mine, beef, pork, chicken, shrimp, miso, barbeque pork and beef, lobster, crabmeat…"

Sakura stared at him in disbelief and disgust, "NARUTO! THAT'S PRACTICALLY ALL MEAT! YOU NEED VEGETABLES TOO YOU KNOW!" She waved her fist at him.

Gaara watched the scene with mild amusement. Sakura seemed to like telling Naruto what was what regardless of what Naruto thought. Usually whenever Kankurou tried something like that all Gaara had to do was stare at him before he'd back down. It was pathetic.

Naruto looked over at Gaara. "What about you Sand-man? What do you like on your ramen?"

"I really don't eat ramen." He deadpanned.

Naruto looked at him as if he had sprouted a third arm. "N-NO WAY!"

"I just don't care for it that much." He answered with a shrug. He glanced over at Sakura, who eyeballed him curiously.

Naruto's jaw dropped, he looked as though he could cry.

"To be honest I really don't care for it either." Sakura chimed in, only adding to Naruto's distress. She understood what Gaara's look meant. Right now he wanted her company and hers alone. Although it made her slightly nervous, it was better than suffering through an even more potentially awkward situation at Ichiraku.

"Sakura-chan, you too?" Naruto looked depressed. He sighed, "I guess I'll just go by myself then." He glanced up at them as though he expected them to feel bad and come along after all. They didn't.

Sakura stared and at him and thought for a moment, "Naruto we can meet up with you later, if you're going to make such a fuss."

The blonde boy's face lit up. "YOSH! It's a plan!" He turned on his heel and ran off in the direction of the ramen stand, yelling "See you guys later!" over his shoulder.

Gaara looked over at Sakura who was still staring at the dust trail Naruto had left behind. "Is he always like this?"

"Worse." She answered. It had begun. They were alone. Her heart started pounding in her chest. _"Stop it!"_ She scolded herself. Inner Sakura took over. _"He's looking at you! Say something! Anything…wait, definitely not anything…"_

Gaara studied her unease. She didn't seem to like the idea of being alone with him at the moment, but she had still willingly declined Naruto's invitation, even though she knew this would happen. Her emotions were obvious from her face, to her stance, to the way her hands clenched and unclenched at her sides. "I can read you like a book you know." He stated.

_"DAMMIT! BAKA!"_ Inner Sakura griped. She was a genius at chakra control, but what good was that if she couldn't mask her own emotions?

He had her now. "Weren't you the one who said you weren't afraid of me before?" His condescending manner was a piece of his personality that he allowed free reign from time to time to test the people around him, and Sakura was fitting for that purpose. Here was a girl who had claimed to understand him and withstand his company, but was visibly disturbed by him at the same time. Had she lied to him like Yashamaru too?

Sakura was frightened and angered by his statement. How dare he doubt her after everything she had said to him before! She wouldn't take back a word of it. "I meant everything I said to you before." Her eyes locked on his. "It's just that…" She faltered.

"Yes?" He urged, his arms crossed.

She began spilling her feelings in an almost incoherent manner, "It'sjustthatIdidn'tknowwhattosay, soIstartedthinkingandthenIwentblankandIdidn'tknowwhatyouwouldthink…and…." She paused, blushing fiercely. "That's pretty much it." _"UGHH…YOU IDIOT!"_ Inner Sakura screamed.

Gaara raised an eyebrow at her. "That was it?" Women had such strange thoughts. He smirked suddenly, feeling a little sadistic. "That wasn't so hard now was it?"

Forgetting who she was with Sakura narrowed her eyes at him, which only amused him further.

He knew he wouldn't have let anyone get past him if they were looking at him like that, anyone but Sakura. She wasn't a threat, and it helped that she didn't run away from him like everybody else, well save some of the people in this village at least. She looked better when she was angry. She was studying under the Fifth Hokage, which meant she had to be somewhat talented. Perhaps she was holding back her real power. That had to be it. He could tell by the look in her eyes that there was the soul of a real fighter inside, begging to be recognized. Was he the same as her? Was there a side of him inside longing to be recognized?

Sakura regained her courage, and her features relaxed. "Do you want to go somewhere other than standing here in the middle of the road?" He was staring at her intently, and she wasn't sure what was going on in his head.

"What did you have in mind?" He replied, still holding his gaze, not really giving her an answer.

The shurinken was thrown back in her path. It was stupid of her to have expected him to have any idea of where he wanted to go, when she had no idea herself. To avoid another embarrassing confrontation she blurted out the first place that came to mind. "The park."

He nodded and followed her lead, eyes to the ground and arms still crossed.

It seemed strange for the two of them to be there when it was still light out. Sakura was used to the glow of the moon and the chirping of crickets that encircled the park at night. Gaara leaned against a tree.

"It's odd how we always end up here huh?" Sakura tried. It was stupid of her. Pointless small talk was not something Gaara would readily respond to.

"This was your idea, I merely went along with it." He answered coldly, as she predicted. This was not what he had in mind.

Sakura looked down at her feet for a moment. "Thanks for the save back there, Naruto can be, well, overwhelming sometimes." She smiled a little.

His response was warmer than his last. "It's alright." So she had noticed.

The park was littered with patches of small flowers. Sakura plopped down on the ground; legs crossed, plucked one up, and absent-mindedly began pulling off its petals.

Gaara stared at her. She looked like a picture of innocence, the complete opposite of him. Why would someone like her want to be anywhere near him?

_"Because you deserve love just like anyone else."_ Her words came back to him. Was that truly her reasoning?

"I haven't done this since I was six or seven." Sakura smiled as she plucked off the last petal from the flower leaving only the stem.

At six or seven Gaara had already be stained with the blood of others, including his Uncle's, and branded a threat to the village.

Sakura stared at the bare flower stem between her fingers. "It looks kind of sad now that it's all alone."

"Of course it does, it has nothing left to it now, nothing that makes it pleasant to look at." Gaara commented.

Sakura looked over at him and then back at the stem with its bare bulb remaining. "True," She said as she plucked the bulb from the stem. She pulled out her kunai and used the blade to dig up a small patch of earth; she then set the bulb inside and covered it with the dirt. "But now it has a second chance at life."

End of Chapter 6

So much for this not being a fluffy chapter…oh well there will be others. I wasn't expecting to end this chapter here, but after reading through the whole thing several times I decided this would be a decent place to end it. Kind of cutting it short, but I didn't want to risk adding a ton of unnecessary crap that would ruin whatever it is I'm trying to do here. It was bad enough when I had Naruto ask Gaara what he liked on his ramen, I kept thinking of those Tombstone frozen pizza commercials. "What do you want on your Tombstone?" Gaara thinks for a moment. "Pepperoni and cheese." Then I started wondering why anyone would want a brand of pizza named after a gravestone? So pump me full of your opinions and whatnots, I can take it! (NO SHE CAN'T!) SHUT UP BRAIN! Read and review!


	7. New Revelations Chapter 7

New Revelations Chapter 7

First of all uber thank yous to everyone who gave me such nice reviews! I mean they were really nice reviews! Personally I really don't think this is the best fan fic in the world, but I'm glad some of you think so! I've updated/edited my summary for you non-manga readers, or people that haven't caught up with the manga as of yet. Apparently someone pointed out there was a huge spoiler in the summary that I mindlessly overlooked. GOMEN! Well on with the chapter!

Gaara looked on at Sakura, pondering the deeper meanings in her last statement. He had been given a second chance hadn't he? He had friends now, something he thought he would always be denied.

She smiled at him before flopping on her back and staring up into the sky. The grass was soft and comfortable here, not itchy or prickly at all. She sighed contently watching the few patches of clouds float soundlessly by. "Do you ever just stare up at the sky?" She asked; her green eyes focused entirely on the blue until she could see nothing else.

Gaara tilted his head to look, "Yes, usually at night. The sky is a lot different at night. It's calmer, more serene."

"_I see."_ Sakura thought. _"It probably helps that there's no one around to bother him either." 'Except for you of course.'_ Inner Sakura added.

"You look like that Nara guy." Gaara said studying her and breaking her concentration.

"Shikamaru?" She sat up and turned to face him. It wasn't that Shikamaru was a bad guy, but he was considered to be one of the laziest ninjas in the entire world.

Gaara smirked, thoroughly enjoying the reaction he was getting. "Yeah him, that night when I first ran into you here, I saw him laying like that staring up at the sky."

Sakura's face softened. Shikamaru had suffered as well. No one thought Chouji would make it after taking the red pill, but thankfully Tsunade was able to make an antidote to cure him. She remembered seeing him sitting outside the intensive care unit with Chouji's father on her way to see Naruto. Up until then she had never seen Shikamaru look so worried.

She snapped back to attention when Gaara sat down next to her. "I heard my sister say he was really shaken after what happened. She couldn't understand why he wasn't given emotion training."

"_Emotion training?"_ She thought staring at Gaara. What kind of instruction were ninja given in Sunakagure? "We were given rules as academy students." Sakura began. "The twenty-fifth rule was that Shinobi, under no circumstances are to show emotion." She stiffened, remembering the mission in the Wave country and Sasuke's limp body, punctured by Haku's needles. She had cried then too.

"_It is important for Shinobi to remain a tool, however, most struggle with the thought of that." _Kakashi-sensei had said at the time.

Sasuke was struggling with something very similar to that when he left Konoha. He saw himself only as an instrument for revenge, and didn't care whom he had to go through to get it.

Gaara remained silent. Sakura's face had changed, she looked grim now and her bottom lip was quivering slightly. Obviously something had happened to make her doubt the logicality of such a rule. "It's true though isn't it? We shinobi are tools, tools do not show emotion." He stated. Gaara knew ninja were a tool more than anyone else; he himself still was considered a "tool."

Sakura turned to him, eyes full of tears, her voice shaky "Do you honestly believe that?" She had heard stories about his ruthless killings and the crude smile on his face when he crushed his victims to death while they screamed for mercy. He had been raised a tool, and yet he longed to feel.

He stared at her overwhelmed at her display of emotion. He had never seen anyone cry, not like this. He had seen Yashamaru look sadly at the picture of his sister, the one Gaara would have called mother, he had seen people beg for him to spare their lives, but he had never seen tears of true sadness. Her tears were quite like his own had been when he discovered he was nothing but his village's secret weapon. Trying to come to grips with the frustration, the loneliness, and the futility of the reality before him; _she_ was like him in that sense. "I'm not so sure now." He answered her.

Her eyes widened at his response and she smiled weakly before deciding to hug him. He jerked a little in surprise to her actions, but he made no move to stop her. Her head rested on his shoulder again like it had the night of the kiss.

"I'm glad." She said. He could tell she was smiling. Not knowing exactly what else to do, he awkwardly put an arm around her. Seconds, then minutes went by until he could no longer keep track of how long they remained this way, but he dared not move.

"_He's uneasy."_ She noticed. Was he afraid? It seemed reasonable. No one ever reached out to him, they secluded him and he mentally boxed himself in to avoid being hurt in such a way ever again. She thought for a moment. "You know Naruto never told us where to meet him."

"It hasn't been that long, he's probably still eating that ramen crap." He answered, his posture finally relaxing.

Sakura smiled, once again diffusing the tension for him. "More than likely he's on his seventh bowl already."

Gaara made a face, "How much of that stuff can he take?"

She laughed, "Shall we find out?"

Gaara smirked in return. "I guess."

"Let's go then!" she shouted grabbing his hand and pulling him up with her, still smiling. The look of surprise on his face was just priceless. _"I'll pull you out of that little shell of yours, just you wait!" _She thought with newfound determination.

Suddenly Sakura's legs were stuck fast. "What the…" She looked down to find herself up to her knees in sand. She turned to Gaara, perplexed.

"You were hurting my arm." He answered. "I had to stop you."

"I see…you could have said something though." Sakura teased.

"Yes, but would you have listened?" He retorted.

She fumbled for a moment, much to his delight, "N-no probably not."

"Then it _was_ necessary." He said smugly and called the sand back to him.

Sakura shrugged and they began their walk to Ichiraku.

"SECONDS!" Naruto shouted with glee over to the ramen chef, a small limp noodle still hanging from the corner of his mouth. The blonde haired Genin placed his third empty bowl on top of the stack next to him on his right.

The chef laughed, "What would you like on it this time?"

Naruto slurped the loose noodle from the corner of his mouth and grinned. "Miso please!" He smiled cheerfully and leaned back a bit on his stool. He straightened once he became aware of a strong presence behind him…with the intent to kill.

"…. Naruto…." The strangely familiar voice shook with anger and annoyance.

He turned around just in time to receive a blow to the face. "YOU BAKA!" The person screamed. He shook off the punch and looked up at his attacker.

Sakura stood in front of him practically glowing with fury.

Gaara lifted the curtain to the stand from behind Sakura, face completely expressionless. "So he really was still here after all."

"Sakura-chan," Naruto stumbled over his words due to the immense swelling of one of his cheeks. He looked over at Gaara, "And Sand-man too? So you guys changed your minds then?" He asked hopefully.

Sakura glared at him and judging from the sudden look of disgust from Gaara after seeing his stack of bowls, this was certainly not the case.

"Kyah! Naruto, you never told us where you wanted to meet up later, in fact you never told us when either!" She snarled as Gaara looked on transfixed by this side of her personality. "Even Kakashi-sensei has the decency to do that!" She finished pointing her index finger at Naruto just inches away from his forehead.

"_She's a very angry individual, there just might be hope for her yet."_ Gaara thought. Sakura seemed to have dynamic reactions to certain behaviors, and Naruto seemed to embody all those of which would invoke her wrath. She was comforting one moment, and rampaging the next. He couldn't deny this made her entirely more interesting to be around and it was rare for him to be so fascinated by another person.

"Here you go kid!" The ramen chef said with a smile, completely ignoring the chaos that had just taken place.

Naruto whirled around and whipped out a pair of chopsticks, "Itadakimasu!" He shouted and began slurping the noodles at an alarming rate.

Gaara's eye twitched.

Sakura stared at Naruto, frozen with her finger still pointing in the same position. _"This guy!"_ Inner Sakura growled. She gathered herself, taking a deep breath, "That _is_ your last bowl right?" She asked, half demanding. Just watching him eat like that made her nauseous.

Naruto looked over his shoulder, noodles hanging from his mouth in mid slurp, "Uh huh." He finished slurping and chugged the remaining broth in mere seconds.

"YOSH! That was great!" He smiled and paid Ayame the ramen girl before turning to join Sakura and Gaara. "So where to?"

Sakura rolled her eyes. "Honestly Naruto, _you_ said you wanted to meet _us_, didn't you at least have something in mind?"

The blonde giggled with one hand behind his head, "O-of course Sakura-chan….um I was hoping….we could…GO SEE FUZZY EYEBROWS! He was released today you know!" His response was met by another smack by Sakura.

"NARUTO DON'T CALL LEE-SAN NAMES LIKE THAT!" She scolded.

Outside the quarrel, Gaara wondered if things were always like this between them. He raised his eyebrows at the mention of Lee's name. He hadn't seen him since he had brought him to the hospital. Somehow, he wasn't sure if he wanted to see Lee, whose happy-go-lucky attitude served both as a relief and a bother. On one hand it was nice to have someone not be terrified of him and treat him like a normal person, on the other hand, Lee was, well, kind of weird, especially if his teacher was with him. However, he had no time to sit and dwell on these things because while he was deep in thought, Naruto and Sakura had decided to go and see Lee, and were already dragging him along. Dragging _him_ along? He couldn't believe he hadn't been paying attention like that. Normally if anyone so much as brushed past him he reacted. There was something about those two that made him abandon his predisposed way of thinking. No, it wasn't just them; many people in this village didn't seem to mind his presence. Shikamaru had greeted him as if he spoke with him all the time, Gai had thanked him, and even the Hokage wasn't worried about having him around. Maybe this was just the way of the village of Konoha?

"Oi, Sand-man you're lagging behind!" Naruto called to him.

Sakura smiled, "Don't make us carry you!"

Whatever the reason, he wasn't going to complain. "I'm coming."

END OF CHAPTER 7

Whew! This chapter took me forever! Someone suggested that I select a time frame for this story to take place. After reading ch. 245 of the manga I've decided to change some things around for future events. It's not going to ruin what I have already done here though, and it's not going to be a rewrite of the manga, which is good seeing as this is a work of fiction, i.e. from my demented brain. This will actually work out pretty well for this story because I don't want Gaara and Sakura's relationship to evolve too quickly. Also in case no one else has noticed this also focuses on what's going on around them, hence all the Naruto dialogue. You know Gaara and Naruto would become great friends if given the chance. Well I hope you likes and read and review!

_Gaara: This is the worst fanfic ever._

_Lizzy-kun: Shut up or I won't tell you where I hid your gourd._

_Gaara: Phooey! _

_Lizzy-kun: phooey? O.O; _

_Gaara:looks taken off guard: Shut up or I'll kill you!_

_Lizzy-kun:snickers: phooey!_

_Gaara: I hate you._


	8. New Revelations Chapter 8

New Revelations Chapter 8

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_WOW THANKS FOR ALL THOSE GREAT REVIEWS! I'm glad I have so many diligent readers out there! I took kind of a long break before really getting into this one, and it's a little shorter (only by half a page!) of my usual length. READ AND REVIEW!_

It didn't take the group much thought or effort to find Lee, he was where he would always be, his little spot in the forest practicing punches and kicks on the same unfortunate tree stump.

"Fuzzy eyebrows doesn't waste any time does he?" Naruto mused out loud.

Sakura glared at him, then shouted her greeting to Lee. "Hey Lee-san! Mind some company?"

Konoha's beautiful green beast, looked up in surprise. "Sakura-san, Naruto-kun, and Gaara-san!" He waved. "I was afraid I would have to wait until tomorrow for a sparring partner!"

Gaara tried rather unsuccessfully not to roll his eyes, "Uzumaki said you only just got out of the hospital, shouldn't you be taking it easy or something?" It wasn't really Gaara's nature to care, but Lee's words after the fall of Kimimaro had gotten him into thinking more along the very lines in which he used to avoid.

"_My sensei told me that luck is part of real strength."_

"_That busy-body…"_

"_He's not a busy-body! That was because of my own cowardice! Stop talking about my sensei like that!"_

"_You too…if the one you admire is insulted you become enraged…you fight for them."_

Lee grinned wholeheartedly, "They actually said the exercise would be good for me!"

Naruto was all for it. "I'll spar with you Fuzzy Eyebrows!"

Sakura sighed, as much as she tried, Naruto still insisted on referring to Lee as Fuzzy Eyebrows. "You're hopeless."

Lee got into his fighting stance, "Okay Naruto-kun, but I won't go easy on you."

Naruto smiled. "Same here."

"He's far too overconfident." Gaara commented with a smirk. After all he himself almost wasn't capable of defeating Lee.

Sakura nodded, "He's always been like that. Although in a way it pushes him to try even harder if he loses." She crouched down, with her back against a tree. "In some cases, just watching him would motivate me to want to do my best."

"Is that why you wanted to train with the Hokage?" Gaara glanced down at her.

Sakura looked up at him for a few seconds before answering. "No, well not entirely, I've always wanted to be a medical ninja, but when we were in our three man cells, I was always lagging behind everyone. My chakra control was great, and I could perform jutsus perfectly, but I lacked real skills when I was on the battlefield." She paused momentarily to watch Naruto and some of his shadow clones attempt an assault on Lee, who landed a spinning kick on them, making them disappear.

"When I would watch Naruto, I wished I could be more like him. Even if the odds were stacked totally against him he would give it his all, instead of giving up. After everyone returned from the mission, and I heard about all that had happened, I knew that if a medical ninja had been there, we could have put up more of a fight."

Gaara noticed her face became more serious once the mission was mentioned. The fighting spirit he had sensed earlier about her was coming to light again.

"I wanted to go with, but I knew that if I had gone in my current state I would have only been a burden." Her face hardened. "Once I heard that the mission was a failure, I wished even more that I had been stronger, so that I could have fought, maybe I could have made even the slightest difference. After I left the hospital that day, I sought out the Hokage and asked her if I could study under her as her apprentice, and that's what I've been doing ever since." She looked up at him with a smile, the hard expression she wore moments before, completely melted away.

"I see." He replied simply. Some of that happiness, he concluded, was just a mask she wore, to disguise what she was really feeling. Inside she was hurt about something, this he could see plainly when she spoke of the failed mission. What exactly that was, he had no intention of prying into at the moment. He turned his attention back to Lee and Naruto's fight just in time to see Lee dodge past all of Naruto's shadow replications and land a finishing blow to his chest.

Naruto flew back several feet, and found himself unable to get back up. His remaining shadow clones disappeared in small poofs of smoke.

Lee walked over and helped him to his feet, "You've gotten stronger Naruto-kun, we should do this again sometime."

Naruto stood up breathing heavily, but with a smile on his face, "Sure thing!"

Lee grinned and gave him his best 'nice guy pose.' "It's a promise!" He looked over at Gaara. "Next time you and I should have a little rematch too Gaara-san!"

Gaara smirked. "I'll think about it."

Naruto hobbled back over to Gaara and Sakura, "We'll let you get back to your training Fuzzy Eyebrows." He called behind him.

"Yosh! See you guys later!" Lee waved and then commenced practicing kicks on the tree stump.

Sakura sighed, "Naruto you're a mess, hold still you've got a hole in your jacket." Focusing her chakra into her index and middle fingers, she refused the fabric back together.

Naruto was in awe. "Whoa Sakura-chan! That's awesome! Did Old Lady Tsunade teach you how to do that?"

Sakura smiled, "Yup!"

"Wow! Do ya think you can come over to my house, I've got tons of shirts and pants that you can fix!"

The smile turned into a frown. "No." After all she wasn't his personal seamstress!

"Ah-oh…" Naruto sulked.

Gaara stared at Sakura. She really did possess great chakra control to do something like that so effortlessly. He remembered her match in the Chuunin preliminaries. Back then, he saw nothing extraordinary about her, in fact, he had thought she was pitifully weak. That was only a few months ago, to have obtained skills like this so quickly? She definitely had to have been holding back. There had to be something inside her that reacted, keeping her from releasing her full potential.

Naruto yawned. "I'm gonna go home and hit the sack, gotta get up early to train tomorrow. NIGHT!" He waved and wandered off towards his apartment.

_"That guy! To be so noisy even in the midst of exhaustion!" _Sakura thought as she watched him leave.

Taking advantage of Naruto's departure, Gaara confronted Sakura. "So sealing fabric was one of the things the Hokage taught you?" He asked.

Sakura sighed, "Yeah, don't tell me you've got a pile of clothes at home you want me to fix too?" She teased.

Gaara made a face. "No, seeing as the sand protects me, my clothes are virtually unscathed. Surely you knew that."

"Oh, that's right, I almost forgot." She smiled, slightly embarrassed.

How could she forget? She was fully aware of his monstrous capabilities, fully aware of the demon he housed…and she was so easily able to look past that? He had held her in his death grip, almost crushed her to death…didn't that bother her? She truly had to be one of the most interesting people he had ever come across.

"Right now the Fifth has me working on focusing my chakra to fix things like that for now. It's kind of the building blocks of being a medical ninja because they have to reconstruct cells and reconnect nerves of their patients. It's pretty complicated stuff, but I'll manage."

He nodded in response. "You said that watching Uzumaki gave you the motivation to do your best…" he took a few steps forward. "I want to see it. I want you to show me how you've progressed."

End of Chapter 8

_Whew! 8 is done! Another cliffhanger ending by me! Well kind of. Will Gaara ask Sakura to fight him? Will Naruto ever get his clothes all stitched up? Will Lee leave the poor tree stump alone? The world may never know…_

_GAARA: Of course you know! You're writing this abomination!_

_LIZKUN: What are you complaining about? You've been perfectly in character throughout this entire fic so far._

_GAARA: I don't like my actions being dictated by someone other than me._

_LIZKUN: Too bad get used to it, you're stuck until whenever I wrap this up._

_GAARA: Meanie!_


	9. New Revelations Chapter 9

New Revelations Chapter 9

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_Sorry for the wait! I've been busy with midterms and side projects on my deviant art site. I have lots of Gaara fan art up there so go have a look if you want to get a good fix http:www.lizkun. You know the drill! Read and Review!_

"I want to see it." He stepped forward. "I want you to show me how you've progressed."

She stared at him in surprise, her voice trapped in her throat rendering her speechless. Did he want her to fight him? There was no way she could do that! The Fifth really hadn't taught her anything besides basic medical ninjutsu; she wouldn't stand a chance against him!

Gaara remained expressionless, his jade colored eyes catching the early moonlight, making them seem to glow. He looked up to the sky. "Before, when you were talking about the retrieval mission, you looked different."

Sakura's muscles relaxed a bit, "What do you mean?" He was watching her?

"Your eyes changed." He stated simply. "They had an aggressive look to them, they had the same look in your preliminary match in the Chuunin exams, but you chose not to act. You were holding back."

His analysis was unnerving, just knowing that he had been watching her so closely even back then, was more than a little disturbing. Giving his disposition perhaps it made the slightest bit of sense. Always being alone, he had probably gotten used to watching people, and reading their emotions through their actions. Holding back though? She had felt as though she had been giving it all she had! "What makes you say that?" She pressed, trying not to sound offended.

His gaze shifted back to her, eyes resting on hers, making it feel as though he could read her very thoughts.

"Everything. It was obvious you both were soft towards the other, at some point in your lives perhaps even comrades. The blonde girl even stopped you from falling. You were both undeniably stubborn towards each other and overconfident, but neither of you looked as though you had fought to your true potential." He paused for a moment. "Especially you."

Her eyes widened. _"He figured all that out just by watching our match?"_ She thought. "What makes me so different?" She asked.

"You were able to dispel her mind control technique. That's no easy task it takes great control over your chakra to be able to do something like that, however, in the end you didn't have it in you to finish her off, even after spouting your disgust with her. You took the easy way out." Your match was one of the longer ones, and it was hardly worth watching."

_"GRRRR…"_ Inner Sakura began to fume He had a lot of guts to put things in such a way, but then again this was Gaara. His statement was harsh though the tone of his voice was indifferent. _"No it doesn't matter! An asshole is an asshole!"_ Inner Sakura reminded her. She clenched her teeth. She definitely wouldn't win in a fight against him. She could feel the chakra pulsing through her body with her anger; it wove in and out down her arms to her clenched fists.

Gaara continued to stare at her with the same blank expression. In truth he was studying her. He was curious to know what kind of power she really housed, what she had been holding back all this time. He could tell he had angered her with all these jabs at her futile defenses. Sakura wasn't rash like Naruto; she wouldn't jump into something without thinking it through first. Even now she was trying desperately to keep a grip on herself.

He couldn't resist. "You're holding back even right now aren't you?" His eyes narrowed slightly.

"URESAI!" She struck a tree next to her with her chakra infused fist, completely destroying it. A large branch fell towards her and Gaara, which he promptly blocked with sand.

Sakura stood completely still, shocked by her strength. She examined her fist in disbelief. Was she really this strong?

Gaara looked over at the now pulverized tree. It stood about four feet tall now, it's surface rough and jagged from the force of the blow. He smirked. Her strength was impressive, as he had suspected, she just needed to realize that.

"What good comes from holding back?" His tone was almost mocking.

She looked up at him, as though she had forgotten he was there. "I did this…" She said slowly as though she were looking for confirmation.

"Someone with chakra control like yours could do well in battle, if can bring themselves to relish it." He walked towards her and stopped directly in front of her. "Perhaps you should have Hokage-sama instruct you in more than just medical ninjutsu."

End Of Chapter 9

_Sorry so short! I know everyone was really looking forward to a new chapter, so I did my best even though it's only about two pages long it was hard to write! It didn't seem right to just start a whole other scene after this event. I thought it would take away some of the effect of what just happened. I hope you all like it! It's so strange to know I actually have a small fan base for this fic, and I don't want to disappoint anyone! Read and Review!_


	10. New Revelations Chapter 10

New Revelations Chapter 10

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_Ok, the last chapter was short as all hell, so I'm going to do my best with this one. Inspiration has not been on my side lately, and this is doubling as my main outlet for a much-needed Gaara fix. I just love that little sand tanuki soo much! Gaara sighs and mumbles something about unwanted attention Anyway without further adieu, chapter 10!_

"Perhaps you should have Hokage-sama instruct you in more than just medical ninjutsu."

She heard his words, but everything had happened so quickly. She found herself looking from the tree to her hand, from her hand to the tree, from the tree back to her hand, and then finally looking up to face him.

"Unexpected?" He offered.

He had no idea. She knew her chakra control was exceptional, the Fifth herself had told her that her skills were advanced, but to be able to do this on a whim? But Gaara had sensed it too; he noticed her potential even though she lacked the sense at the time to utilize it. If she looked at it that way then maybe it wasn't so surprising, it was simply untapped power. He had just wanted her to see it.

She smiled then. "You knew something like this would happen, didn't you?"

She had accepted it. "I expected some kind of reaction, yes." He answered, his lips shifted in a half-cocked smile.

All those jabs at her just moments before were only meant to make her unconsciously release her strength. "You miss nothing do you?"

"It's in my nature to take notice of these kinds of things, especially after so many assassination attempts. You study everything and everyone around you so that possible threats can be eliminated." The moonlight was hitting his eyes again.

"Are you going to eliminate me then?" Sakura tested him.

"Do you want me to?" He countered, the perfect response.

She raised an eyebrow. "Not particularly."

He stopped directly in front of her with just inches between them. "Then think nothing of it." He had no desire to kill her, the one who managed to stimulate various emotions from him that he otherwise would have bypassed. For that he would choose to keep her alive. Or even perhaps, in the very back of his mind, he realized it was for _that_ reason he could _not_ kill her.

He walked past her, heading back to the inn, "You're interesting Haruno Sakura, I'll give you that." He stated without bothering to turn around.

_"AND YOU'RE CREEPY!"_ Inner Sakura went off. Interesting? _"You never should have kissed him you know."_ Her outspoken inner voice reminded her. He had decided to pursue her further after all; she still didn't know exactly what to make of him. At times he was bearable and others he was downright loony, and then just for a moment he was almost like a normal person. She knew things had to be hard for him, so he had to be hard right back. She watched him until the light of the moon no longer shown on him and he became a small, black spot on the horizon.

Over the next couple of days Sakura pushed herself harder than ever during her training with Tsunade. Her log exercise was complete, and her next goal was to force the cells inside to form a small branch. Tsunade was curious about her student's sudden increase in motivation.

"You've been outdoing yourself lately Sakura-chan, more so than before, any particular reason why?"

Sakura turned away from her work, her discovery still fresh in her mind. She wasn't sure why she hadn't bothered to tell her sensei about it, maybe she just wanted to be sure it hadn't been a fluke. "I managed to do something, the other day." She began.

Tsunade's eyebrows raised, "Do something? Like what?"

"Over here I'll show you." Sakura approached a tree in the courtyard, forced her chakra to move up and down her arms as she had before, until it became unbearable, and then connected her fist with the trunk of the tree. Just like before, it was blown to bits.

Tsunade smirked, "I was wondering how long it would take for you to catch on to that sort of thing."

Sakura whirled around in surprise, "You knew I would be able to do things like this?"

The Fifth Hokage nodded, "Sure, it's a normal ability for ninjas who are good with their chakra control, it can defend and destroy."

With abilities like this she would no longer be a nuisance during missions. She faced her sensei with newfound determination, "Then-."

"Will I teach you other techniques besides medical ninjutsu?" Tsunade finished for her. "Sure, that's a give in, hands down, but for now, what do you say we call it a day?" The blonde smiled and made her way towards her office, picking up a stray sake bottle along the way.

Sakura retrieved her messenger bag off of nearby bench and slung it over her shoulder. Clouds hid the sun, promising rain at some point during the day. She stretched and left the training grounds.

Not even halfway down the block, she was greeted by a battered and bruised Naruto.

"Ohayou Thakura-chan!" He lisped, due to a swollen cheek and lip.

"Naruto what the hell have you been doing?" She demanded.

He was a wreck, there were small cuts and bruises all over the exposed areas of his body, and she could have sworn the giant red mark going across his face was in the shape of someone's foot. In fact, on closer inspection the grooves from the sole of a shoe were visible, and there was only one ninja in Konoha she knew had feet that big…

He laughed awkwardly, "Thparring with futhy eyebrowths."

She sighed, her assumption confirmed, "Again?"

Naruto smiled, his injuries making it seem as though he had an orange shoved against one side of his mouth, "Well yeah, I'm never going to be able to beat him, if I don't keep at it."

She should have known. Naruto never backed down from anything in the whole of his life, it's what allowed him to graduate from the Academy, defeat Kiba, and then Neji in the Chuunin exams, and even with the rumors of Akatsuki looking for him, for reasons yet unknown to her, he hadn't foundered once. The only time she had ever seen him look downcast, was after his group returned…without Sasuke.

"He'th pretty tough, ath thoon ath he wath done with me, he athkth Gaara to thpar with him."

Sakura felt her eyes widen. Lee sparing with… _"Stupid!"_ She scolded herself. _"He said he'd consider it the other day, that shouldn't be surprising at all!"_

Naruto noticed the change in her face. "Thakura-chan?"

"Are they at the usual training grounds?" She asked. "I promised Lee I'd come by today." She covered, smiling slightly.

Naruto dropped all concern he had displayed just seconds before. "Yup."

She smiled at him, "Thanks, go home and clean yourself up! And put ice on that!" She poked his cheek for emphasis making him wince before hurrying off in the direction of Lee's favorite training spot.

Why was she hurrying? There was no reason to, and yet…She slowed to a light jog before stopping completely. What was she thinking? _"Its just curiosity that's all! They're both strong and it's perfectly natural to want to see how they measure up after all this time."_ She rationalized, clasping her fist, as if to make the reasoning tangible.

She had barely made it halfway to her destination when it started to rain, drizzling at first before turning into a straight down pour. Sakura sighed as her petal pink hair clung around her face. She took shelter under the full branches of a nearby oak, and began wringing out her hair, when she distinctly felt someone's presence close by.

"Hey." The familiar gruff voice greeted her.

Gaara.

End of Chapter 10.

_Hooray! Normal chapter length! I debated calling this chapter 9.5 after the previous horrendously short chapter. The relationship is developing slowly, and I plan to get the actual plot moving in the next few chapters, since this has been going on without an end in sight… not that I intend to end this quickly or anything, it's just that there's been a sincere lack of conflict besides the inner conflicts of Sakura and Gaara, and I don't want this to go on for 50 plus chapters since I think the readers would get bored. Thanks for all the great reviews! Keep up the good work! I enjoy and value your input! Even if I don't always go by it… ;_


	11. New Revelations Chapter 11

New Revelations Chapter 11

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_I MAKE MY TRIUMPHANT RETURN! I'm sorry I took so long to update! I was really stuck, and as far as the next chapter is concerned I still am. ; Don't expect regular updates from me I will finish this story no matter how many chapters it spawns and how long it takes me to get there. So try to enjoy this very overdue chapter that has been months in the making that probably isn't at all worth the wait. TTTT;_

"Hey." The familiar gruff voice greeted her.

Gaara.

He stood as he normally did, arms crossed, feet slightly apart, with his typical straight-lipped expression. He too was soaking wet from the sudden rain. His usually spiky red hair hung limply over his left eye.

She wouldn't let him know that he had caught her off guard. Instead she wrung out a lock of her hair, there was no reason to act out of the ordinary around him anyway. "Hi." She answered back. "Caught in the rain too?"

He ran a hand through his own sopping hair causing a small spray of droplets, and making one side stand a little on end. "It would seem that way."

Had he been anyone else she could have laughed and said he looked silly, but he wasn't just anyone, he wouldn't appreciate a comment like that, no matter how innocent. So she held it back. "You were right, you know."

He raised an eyebrow. "About what?" It wasn't like he was a mind reader.

"About the Fifth teaching me other jutsus besides medical." She answered watching the continuing downpour.

He sniffed. "Of course I was." The Fifth Hokage was no idiot, despite the obvious collection of sake bottles and lottery ticket stubs adorning her desk. She didn't overlook things no matter how seemingly small. She had made that much apparent when she hired he and his siblings to assist with the reconnaissance mission.

"First and foremost I would like to thank you for coming on such short notice." The Fifth Hokage began. "I know that Sunagakure is still recovering from it's own losses due to Orochimaru's treachery."

"It was no problem Hokage-sama." Temari bowed. She was always the diplomat of the group. "We are in Konoha's debt."

The woman nodded, and unrolled a scroll on her desk. "There was an incident that occurred in the late hours of the night about two days ago now. Uchiha Sasuke left the village. He is believed to be heading to Orochimaru."

Gaara's arm twitched at the mention of the Uchiha's name. Uzumaki Naruto's teammate, if he remembered correctly. He wasn't completely sure what he would want with Orochimaru.

"As you are probably aware, due to our losses, we have had to stretch our current number of shinobi, so most of our Chuunin and Jounin are on missions outside of the village." The Hokage continued. "Because of this, I was forced to use a team composed of Genin to intercept Sasuke." The Fifth reached for a map. "They left heading towards the border of the Fire Country." She gestured with her pen. "I doubt Sasuke knows the way to Orochimaru's headquarters by pure intuition, so odds are he has guides, who may prove to be potentially dangerous to the Genin. Your mission is to track them down and offer assistance. Do you understand?"

They nodded. "Yes Hokage-sama."

"Then you are dismissed. Good luck."

A hand being waved in front of his face brought him back from the memory, without giving it a second thought in one swift movement he grabbed it, and glared at its owner.

Sakura smiled despite the fact that he was gripping her hand rather tightly. "Sorry, you were spacing. I couldn't resist."

"IDIOT!" Inner Sakura scolded. "YOU KNOW BETTER NOT TO LAUGH AT HIM, BUT YOU CAN'T RESIST WAVING YOUR FREAKING HAND IN FRONT OF HIS FACE? SHANNARO!"

Didn't she know it was dangerous to do something like that to him? And she had the nerve to smile at him after? Gaara didn't know if this openness of hers towards him was annoying, or entertaining. He released her hand, "Don't let it happen again."

She remained silent. As cranky as he was she knew he wouldn't kill her, she had proof of that. Sakura leaned against the trunk of the tree and picked a stray leaf off from where it was stuck on her wet shoulder. Suddenly she remembered what her original purpose for coming this way was in the first place. "Have you seen Lee?" She asked, feeling her face grow hot. _"Dammit! My face better not be red! There's no reason for that!"_ She argued internally, while striving to calm herself enough for the blood to stop concentrating at her face.

Luckily Gaara wasn't looking at her. "I fought him earlier, then it started raining and he decided to stop. Something about shrinkage…" The look on his face said that the resulting mental image was not a good one.

Sakura's put his to shame. "Shrinkage?" Apparently green body suits weren't very efficient after all. She couldn't hold back her laughter. "So who was winning?"

Gaara leaned against the tree and crossed one foot behind the other. "Neither of us. We're both rather stubborn."

She should have known. Although she had expected Gaara to say that he had the upper hand. They were stubborn though. Their match in the Chuunin preliminaries was the same, neither one relenting until only one of them was left standing. Even in his state of unconsciousness Lee wanted to fight on. She giggled again.

"What's so funny?" He raised an eyebrow at the crouching, pink-haired girl.

Sakura managed to compose herself long enough to speak, "Lee is one of the most stubborn people I know, even when he was recovering after the Chuunin preliminaries he constantly attempted to train despite the nurses scolding him. To think he would stop a match because of the rain…" She lost it again. "I wanted to say I envied his endurance."

"So you think less of him?"

The question took a moment to fully register, he was indirectly asking her about himself. She didn't think less of Lee, if it had been a real battle he wouldn't have forfeited because of the weather. If she thought less of Lee that would mean that she would think less of Gaara for trying to kill her, that despite her words she still thought him to be a monster. He wanted to be sure he wasn't being fooled with. "No, I don't." His features seemed to calm down.

She stared back at the pouring rain and sighed. "Well this doesn't look like it's going to clear up anytime soon." Gaara made no sound. She was really going to go out on a limb here. She rose to her feet and brushed her wet hair out of her face. "Might as well go with it…" She gave him an offhand glance. "Care to join me?" She'd regret it later.

Gaara again said nothing, but followed her all the same. Right now she was the most bearable person to be around, and if it meant he could observe more of her accepting nature, then it was a win-win situation.

They had been walking through the rain for quite some time when Gaara glanced around the suddenly familiar surroundings. "Isn't your house over here?"

Sakura whirled around in surprise. "How do you know that?" A tinge of fear raced through her. _"Why does he know where I live? Oh my god has he been stalking me? It makes sense though doesn't it? He's always showing up right? What's he plotting? Something isn't right here…"_

Her thoughts were cut short by Gaara's very simplistic response, "I ran into Naruto this morning when I was going to meet Lee. He pointed it out on the way."

"_THAT NARUTO! Leave it to him to tell random people where I live! He's so naïve!"_

He raised an eyebrow at her, which meant she either had a very disturbed look on her face, or she had insulted him by the implications of her question. She suspected all of the above.

"I have better things to do than sit around and watch you all day if that's what you were thinking."

His perceptions couldn't have hit the mark more accurately. "It's not that at all! I was just surprised you knew is all…" She trailed off pathetically; even she didn't believe the words that were coming out of her mouth.

"Does that mean I should then?" He added with a disquieting edge of innocence. He wouldn't mind in all honesty, it would be interesting to learn exactly how she ticked.

"Well it wasn't exactly an invitation or anything." Sakura answered awkwardly. She was backing herself into a corner, and she knew it.

"Who said anything about needing an invitation?" Gaara prodded, thoroughly enjoying himself.

Sakura hesitated at her front step for a moment. Two could play at this game. She turned to him, "Won't you come in then?" She had to be insane.

He just smirked and followed her inside.

Sakura went straight to the nearest cabinet and threw Gaara a towel. "You'll probably need that, unless you want to catch a cold or something."

"I don't get sick." He replied, as he dried his hair.

Sakura stared at him for a moment. It was hard to think of Gaara of the Desert doing something as everyday as drying his hair, but there he was, in her own house no less. "That must be nice." She commented. _"Stop staring!"_ Her mind barked.

He glanced up at her. "I suppose you could consider it that way." Her casual mention of the demon he housed took him slightly aback. She had first hand experience to what he was capable of; most people in their right mind probably wouldn't even bother with that sort of thing out of pure fear.

Sakura finished wringing out her hair and laid the towel out on the back of a chair to dry. "If I make some tea will you have any?" It was good to be a hospitable host after all.

He peered up at her in such a way she would have thought it to be a glare. "Yeah." He answered.

Sakura reminded herself that it _was_ Gaara. After all he kind of always looked that way didn't he?

END OF CHAPTER 11

_W00tage! FINALLY DONE WITH 11! cheers and applause I'm so sorry for the wait really I am! Forgive me by showering me with reviews and constructive criticism! I'll eventually go back to the first batch of chapters and revamp, cuz there's a bunch of mistakes that I've been far too lazy to fix up until now. Mostly because I'm afraid if I replace the chapters it will screw up the entire order of things. Which is the problem with technologies such as these. ; Bear with me please._


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